"Novaya Gazeta,
through its award-winning critical coverage, has made many enemies in Russia and
has paid the highest possible price--five of its journalists have been
murdered," CPJ Europe and Central Asia Program Coordinator Nina Ognianova said.
"It is absolutely unacceptable that Russia's top investigating official would
threaten the life of a journalist in clear response to his critical writing. We
call on President Vladimir Putin to order an independent review of this alleged
misconduct."

Dmitry Muratov, editor of Novaya Gazeta, wrote in an open letter, published
in Novaya Gazetatoday, that Bastrykin
invited Sokolov on June 4 to join him on a flight to Nalchik, the capital of
the North Caucasus republic of Kabardino-Balkaria. Once in the city, Bastrykin
took Sokolov to a meeting, where he reportedly demanded an apology from Sokolov
for an article he
had written that was harshly critical of Bastrykin's and other law
enforcement's alleged misconduct in a criminal case, the letter said. Muratov
wrote that Sokolov apologized for the emotional tone of the article, but did
not apologize for its content, which caused Bastrykin to reject the apology and
demand that the journalist leave the room.

The letter said that when the group returned to Moscow,
Bastrykin's guards put Sokolov in a car and drove him to a forest outside of the
city. Muratov wrote that Bastrykin asked his guards to leave them alone, and then
threatened the journalist's life.

"We are outraged not only by this alleged threat, but also
by what it bodes for the investigations into the cases of the many murdered
journalists in Russia," said Ognianova. Twenty journalists have been murdered
in direct retaliation for their work in Russia since 2000, with 18 cases
remaining unsolved. This record has earned Russia ninth place on CPJ's 2012 Impunity
Index. A CPJ delegation met
with Bastrykin to discuss this record of impunity in September 2010.

Novaya Gazeta is
known for its investigative reports into official corruption, human rights abuses,
and government wrongdoing, according to CPJ research. The paper's staff has repeatedly
been targeted in the past. In the most recent case, Elena Milashina, a special
correspondent for Novaya Gazeta, was
attacked outside her home in April, CPJ research shows.

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